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中国物理学会期刊

基于ACE观测数据的太阳风电荷交换X射线辐射因子

Solar wind charge-exchange X-ray emission factor based on ACE observation data

CSTR: 32037.14.aps.74.20241603
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  • 太阳风电荷交换是太阳风粒子与行星大气中性粒子碰撞过程中的一种非弹性碰撞过程, 碰撞相伴产生软X射线辐射, 对行星大气的演化起着重要的影响. 中欧联合卫星——太阳风与地球磁层相互作用全景成像(SMILE)正是利用这种X射线辐射研究太阳风与地球大气相互作用的全局性结构. 但这种辐射对天体弥散X射线源研究是一种重要的干扰, 直接影响对目标源的观测分析. 电荷交换辐射因子是分析空间X射线探测器观测数据(包括中国空间站建议载荷—银河系热重子探寻计划(DIXE)和爱因斯坦探针(EP))的关键物理量. 本文采用美国先进成分空间探测器(ACE) 13年(1998—2011年)的探测数据, 结合前期发展的辐射分析模型, 研究了不同时间段和不同太阳风起源的电荷交换辐射因子, 并与前人结果进行比较, 统计分析揭示了其随太阳风参数的变化规律, 即平均辐射因子随太阳风质子数密度增大快速变小并达到稳定值, 而随太阳风速度增大而缓慢变大并在vsw > 430 km/s趋于恒定. 冕物质抛射的辐射因子比冕流和冕洞的大, 太阳活动强周期的辐射因子比弱周期的大.

     

    This study aims to quantify the solar wind charge-exchange (SWCX) X-ray emission factor (denoted as α-value) and its dependence on solar wind parameters, solar activity cycle, and solar wind origin. By analyzing 13-year (1998–2011) in-situ measurements from the advanced composition explorer (ACE) spacecraft, we investigate the statistical correlations between solar wind ionization states, elemental abundances (particularly oxygen), and bulk plasma parameters (proton speed, density). The derived α-values are critical for explaining the data from solar wind and magnetosphere interaction linker explorer (SMILE), and disentangling SWCX foreground emissions from diffuse astrophysical X-ray sources observed by Einstein Probe (EP) and proposed diffuse X-ray explorer (DIXE) payload on Chinese space station. In this work, high-resolution solar wind ion composition data and plasma parameters from ACE are investigated. Events are categorized by solar wind origin (coronal holes, streamers, interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs)) and solar cycle phase (minimum vs. maximum). The α-value, defined as the total soft X-ray photon emission cross section per solar wind proton, is computed using an updated charge-exchange model that combines the state-resolved cross-section for highly charged ions. The model takes into consideration the velocity-dependent cross-section of solar wind-neutral interaction. Statistical method and bin-averaging techniques are adopted to extract the relations between α, solar wind speed (vsw), proton density (np), and oxygen abundance. The main results are as follows.
    1) Ionization state dynamics: A strong anti-correlation exists between solar wind ionization degree and bulk speed: high-speed winds (> 500 km/s) exhibit lower ionization states than slow-speed winds (< 400 km/s).
    2) Elemental abundance trends: Oxygen abundance (O/H) is inversely correlated with np: the O/H of denser solar wind plasmas (np > 13 cm–3) decreases by 30%–50%, indicating the presence of fractionation during plasma acceleration. No significant speed dependence of O/H is observed, compared with earlier research results.
    3) Emission factor (α-value) behavior: α-value decreases rapidly with the increase of np and stabilizes for np > 13 cm−3. Conversely, α-value increases gradually with vsw up to 430 km/s, beyond which it plateaus. The ICME-associated α exceeds streamer and coronal hole values by 35%–60%, which is attributed to higher averaged ionic state in transient ejecta. Solar maximum α (2000–2002) is 1.3–2.7 times higher than solar minimum (2008–2010), reflecting cycle-dependent ion composition changes.
    By bridging in-situ solar wind measurements and X-ray emission physics, this work enhances the ability to diagnose solar wind-magnetosphere coupling and diffuse X-ray background. The validated α-value will be of benefit to the data analysis for Chinese aerospace projects in the 2020s, such as SMILE, DIXE, and EP.

     

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